i hope they're making an orbital prize too, but the x-prize is far from won. getting the ship up is what the entire prize is about, and there very well may be obstacles that teams did not predict, or that they didn't compensate for correctly. this could lead to the loss of a vehicle and a major setback for everyone. now, i don't think this will be the case, but lets not say it's won until someone launches the second time sucessfully.

Define 'orbit'....
Do you see the goal as achieving another altitude (ex. 215 miles, up near the ISS)
Do you see the goal as actually achieving a stable orbit, a geosyncronous orbit, etc. ? A polar orbit?
Or do you see the 'orbit' goal as a combination of an altitude and a specific velocity along the horizontal plane (relative to earth)

Would there be a time/orbit limit? Ex. You must go around the earth 3 times? Past a specific point 3 times? OR a theoretical orbital limit Ex. I just entered an orbit that will be stable for 38 years?

Or even rules that require teams to enter nearly the exact same orbit they had calculated they would enter, and be able to land within X amount of miles to a point they choose on earth.

Definite hard-lined rules would have to be placed into effect for an X-Prize 2...

If X2 is an orbital prize then, the next incremental step is orbital flight with the goal of promoting commercial space operations. This may be tourism, placing satellites in orbit. Of course this means that the actual cost per passenger or cost per pound would have to reduced to some target.

Only two individuals have paid to orbit in space via the Russians at $20 million per. Maybe the goal of the X2 prize is orbital flight for 7 days at a total cost of $5 million per passenger with a pilot and 2 passengers and of course no government funding of any kind.

In any case what the next prize will promote should be driven by one question, "What next step will attract the most venture capital and near term revenue?

Define 'orbit'....Would there be a time/orbit limit? Ex. You must go around the earth 3 times? ...

Or even rules that require teams to enter nearly the exact same orbit they had calculated they would enter, and be able to land within X amount of miles to a point they choose on earth.

that's what i think it'd be, a combination of those 2. something other than that might be considered an 'orbit', but it wouldn't really do for passenger spaceflight unless you just wanted to dock somewhere.

In previous talk about an X2 goal I mentioned a controlled sub-orbital hop. Say Los Angeles to Tokyo. Orbital flight may be too big of a technological jump still. One idea, I've recently heard, setting X2 at Mach 6.72+ the current speed record of the X-15. It's an achieveble increment that we won't need to wait another 10 years for. After the X-prize is won, the general public is going to say "Cool, so what's next?" X2 should keep the excitement alive by setting something achievable within two years.

After the X-prize is won, the general public is going to say "Cool, so what's next?" X2 should keep the excitement alive by setting something achievable within two years.

I think that the X PRIZE CUP is a better idea than an X PRIZE 2, and here's why:
1. The winner of the X PRIZE would probably be considered the frontrunner for any X PRIZE 2, and that would scare away other teams and sponsors
2. The X PRIZE 2 would probably have to have a higher value, and that would require a lot more work. In contrast, the X PRIZE CUP "pays for itself" in the same way that NASCAR is funded by admission tickets and corporate sponsorship of the race cars.
3. The X PRIZE 2 is a one-time thing, but the X PRIZE CUP would be yearly excitement.

Now, I am sure that there are reasons to favor the X PRIZE 2 over the X PRIZE CUP, but I can't really think of any? Any ideas?

I don't believe the X Prize Cup is viable with dissimilar vehicles. Thus X2 would promote greater flexibility and innovation. Should a design become a clear winner for all ranges of flight, then the X CUP would be the best route.

i believe that some time ago there was a post regarding that very question. one of the suggestions was that there be different classes for different types of vehicles (vtol rockets, jet launched rockets, ballon launched rockets, etc.) kind of like NASCAR, formula 1 and truck racing. to really see though all we can do is wait for the real x-cup to get underway, i'm sure they've figured out a solution to this.

Another possible intermediate suborbital step: a flight over some specific height, say 200 km, that lands halfway around the world, then, within two weeks, flies around the other half to come home. It would not be quite as difficult as an orbital mission, and would have applications toward a next-generation supersonic transport.

Answering the original question, I don't believe people will really care if they would go into orbit or sub-orbit, all they would most likely care about is if they could or couldn't breath outside the shuttle and if they go a flout inside the shuttle. Honestly is there anyone here who has never wondered what it would be like to flout in space, unless you've already been there; any astronauts among us?

However the X Prize class craft only offer 2-4 minutes of apparent weightlessness. What the do offer is a skull crushing ride and an unparalleled view.

Orbit could give you days or weeks of bizarre holiday experiences. Better yet what about a two week cruise out and around the moon and back, with the lunar craft docking with a reusable earth-launch craft to be resuplied and refueled.

As for point-to-point that is still pretty evil technlogy-wise. Serious amounts of atmosperic heating over long periods and needing the ability to hang out in an airport stack.